Sunday, August 24, 2008

I promised more about Peru and here we go! I wish I could show you all my pictures, but I really must be selective. All the pictures are great and it was a wonderful trip.

First, I will start where we left off with those lovely children. Here is mom and child and just baby. Completely and utterly adorable!! What is most amazing is that the mom's carry the child on their backs while working, spinning yarn, weaving, tending to other children or animals. Well, you get the idea.

These pictures are of the dyed alpaca wools and a dying demonstration. They use all natural elements, mostly from plants to dye the wool.

The source....there were many to be found.

A weaving demonstration.

Finished weavings....

A fluffy baby llama eating alfalfa.Now onto Moray. Here you can see more terraces built by the Incas for farming. Aren't they cool? They farmed lots of potatoes. According to our guide Peru has about 2600 varieties!!

Now onto a pleasant surprise....The salt mines. Yes, salt! This is not snow in Peru. The salt mines were also terraced on the side of the mountain. Salt water ran into these beds and then evaporated so that the salt could be harvested. Cool!!

Now, last but not least, the main attraction and reason for the vacation....Machu Picchu! These photos say it all!!

For you nature lovers, we also saw some beautiful orchids and Peru's national bird. By the way, apparently avid bird watchers will pay hundreds of dollars to go on a watch for the Andean Cock of the Rock (national bird) and we saw it twice!!!! Here it is and also a shot of a beautiful orchid.

Well folks, that is my toned down version of my pictures from Peru. I hope you enjoyed. When you return for my next post it will be back to quilt related items!! See you then!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

As promised, I want to give you a wonderful glimpse into our trip to Peru! Our trip was fantastic! We had a great group of 6 people total! They were terrific. But what really made it great was our tour guide Rosa...simply stated, she was FANTASTIC!

We not only visited Machu Picchu, but we spent a lot of time in the Sacred Valley...Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Urubamba, just to mention a few towns. Although there were really no fabric stores, Peru is very rich in colorful textile weavings. In the pictures you will see some of them.

First a warning this may be long, but only due to the pictures. Here we go:First the view from our room in Cusco, beautiful mountains and a fabulous church!!

Some of the local fare, yes, guinea pig and alpaca are on the menu. Alpaca was actually quite good never got a chance to taste the guinea pig and I am not sure I would have. They are just too cute!

Beautiful weavings for sale on our way to see some of the Inca ruins. Simply gorgeous!!

Some of the 1st ruins that we were able to view. Boy did the Inca's know how to build, especially stairs!!

At the market, wonderful color!!

Okay folks, that's all for Part 1, but here is one more picture, a glimpse into Part 2!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Boy am I filled with lots of wonderful vacation news and pictures. Although I had gotten home about 3 weeks ago from Alaska, I just arrived home from PERU!! I didn't think that any vacation could rival Alaska, but Peru did. But I digress, first we must talk about Alaska and save Peru for my next posting.

So since I was away from home so much this summer, you guessed it not much quilting got done. However, while in Alaska, I did stop at some quilt shops. Oh yes, one cannot go to another state or country without looking for fabric!! But the best part was that Alaska is one of the most beautiful states that our country has, the vistas are absolutely astounding.

So without further .... blah, blah, blah from me .... here are some wonderful pictures for your viewing pleasure.First a reindeer, yes they do exist, but no they don't fly. Sorry to any believers out there.

Wonderful bead work, all hand done and this particular native woman has a piece in the Smithsonian!!

Yes, there is gold in them thar hills..... We actually panned for gold and each of us returned with a little bit! Unfortunately, not enough to quit our jobs.

Okay, here is a beautiful vista, only problem is that Mount McKinley is supposed to be in there somewhere. We were unable to see it because it was fogged in the days that we were in Denali! Bummer!!

How is this for an artistic shot? Not bad, a beautiful view of the Kenai river!

So there you have it, my wonderful trip to Alaska! I wish I could show you ALL the pictures, but I don't know how to make a slide show. If anyone knows and would be kind enough to e-mail me, I could set one up for the Peru pictures!